


Three Things That Are Not True

by ssa_archivist



Category: Smallville
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/F - Category, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-05-29
Updated: 2003-05-29
Packaged: 2017-11-01 05:35:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/352557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssa_archivist/pseuds/ssa_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the Five Things That Are Not True Challenge.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Three Things That Are Not True

## Three Things That Are Not True

by Shy

[]()

* * *

Three Things That Are Not True  
By Shy 

Any and all mistakes are mine, too lazy to find a beta... Disclaimer: Don't own so please don't sue, even my moths' wallets have moths in them... 

All was quiet in the Metropolis aquatic exhibit. The only light reflected in the eyes of the particular gilled creatures swimming. Or maybe a better turn would be hunting. 

Spotlights bled into the darkness. 

A voice. 

"Lex? What the hell are you playing at?" 

Lionel still felt the tight constrictions of his binds cut into his skin even after his son ripped off the gag. He knew Lex was up to something, scratchy voice pleading on the phone, Lionel being knocked out upon arrival, though this was taking metaphorical to a whole new game. 

He blinked a few times before things came into focus. 

The glow of the tank was only luminescent, the murky bottom fathomless. The smell of something sharp and acrid hit his nose and Lionel almost retched. A bucket of innards was thrown all over him as he struggled out of his binds. 

Lionel was bound on a plank. The irony had not escaped him. 

"Son, you know I love only you. The Barrier Reef trip was only a test of character!" Only a reasonably calm voice, he hadn't thought he had pushed the boy over the line yet. 

A choke of insane laughter with that scratchy voice again. 

"It's time you faced you're final test, Dad." 

It was not Lex. This boy never had a line to cross, nothing, no conscious to hold him back. Lionel had made sure of that. Now, Lionel realized with absolute horror, he was going to pay the price. 

He truly was the perfect predator. 

"Just chumming the waters, Dad." 

A pointed grin as Lucas kicked him into waiting jaws. 

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ 

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ 

/\ 

Whitney's football scholarship was canceled. 

Something about lack of funding, or whatever bullshit people in higher places make up to placate the children who's dreams they smash into a thousand little pieces and run them over to make sure all hope is dead. He thought jealously of others that had their silver spoon in their mouth, and the geeks he used to make fun of, it seemed as though everyone else was going to make it out of here but him. 

Lana will be dumping him as surely as the sun rises. 

He was considering suicide by climbing up to the old windmill one gusty October night and preparing to jump. There would only be a sharp agony and everything would be over, the fruitless work, the meaningless existence, and all the fear would melt away as the ground rushed up to meet him. 

The slow creak of the old blades moving around and around almost hypnotized him. He wondered how long the ancient thing had left after he was a useless raw splatter on the ground, before the bolts loosened, the iron completely rusted over, and the collapse of the once proud structure was imminent. 

He paced a bit around the ledge. 

Around and around he now goes, when he hits the ground, only gravity knows. 

The wind sent a delicious thrill down his back as he watched the stars shine a spotlight on his little melancholy tragedy. He could see the whole town from here, the unknowing houses of laughing families, urbania with a dollar and a dream. His dream had busted open like rotten fruit. 

Before long there might be others who realized their expectations were carrion for reality. Metropolis would eat most of them alive if they ever got loose from this God forsaken town. 

Hell, he could even see the field where he pretty much crucified Clark. He could use the same pose as he jumped... 

What fucking irony was that? 

He stumbled hard. 

Not very often dull Whitless came up with a joke, he should be laughing but tears were burning the inside of his eyelids. Just a miserable coward and loser, nothing to see here. His courage failed when his path was ripped away from beneath him and he should really end it before he lost his nerve. Or cried pathetically when he joined group therapy. 

Maybe his father would be waiting for him on the other side. Shit, he needed to think. 

It was only when he tripped yet again and fell of the dais that he realized how selfish he was being. He managed to grab the edge with one hand, dangling precariously in the wind as he gasped for air. He was staring into the abyss now and it really was looking back at him with the black emptiness just waiting to absorb him. All he had to do was let go and he could rest in peace. 

Thoughts flashed through his mind. 

What was the point in thinking when he had already lost his future? All he had left was store that would go out of business as a Wall-mart took over and stole all the customers away by under pricing until he went under. Fifty years of do you want fries with that was not appealing. Crime was out of the question. He would not end up like Wade and his krypto buddies. Then he really would kill himself first. 

He'd have to take care of his mother. A stab of guilt went through him. What would happen to his mother if he jumped? Who would take care of her? The insurance of his father's death only paid for the hideous medical bills of cancer treatment. The endless pity and whispers at his own funeral and she might as well crawl in the coffin with him if he jumped. 

But there were people that still believed in him, people that he would hurt if he chose to end it. Friends he had made as he had lost the support and respect of those on the football team who claimed to care about him. Pete, Chloe, Clark, after all the insults and brush-, they had seen him at his worst and were still willing to take him into the group. After all he had done to Clark, the guy still believed in him and would help in him any way to stop him. 

Clark still believed in him, his mother still believed in him, so why shouldn't he? 

That did it. He did not want to die. 

"FUCK IT ALL, I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE UP!" His muscles were in agony from only hanging on for the last few minutes, but at last he had summoned the energy to pull himself up and back onto the platform. 

He shivered as he rolled on his back, sweat pouring off his skin and heart beating wildly in his chest exactly like winning the final touchdown in a game. But the rush was never as good as this moment. Feeling so alive that he was conscious of every intake of breath, each flowing in and out that could have been his last, he never imagined all the ones he'd have afterward were so excellent and why he ever wanted to give that right up. The irony Gods would have to find another victim. 

He didn't have a clue what he was going to do with the rest of his life, but he knew the first step. Getting down from this damn platform. 

When he reached the bottom, someone was frantically looking for him. 

"What are you doing here, Kent?" Solid ground he wanted to kiss but he'd already had his quota of stupidity for one night. 

"I was out for a walk when I heard you shout. What are you doing here, Whitney?" Clark's eyes were easy to read, daring him to lie about what he almost did. 

"Just making some decisions about some things." 

"I'm sorry about the scholarship." It didn't seem so important anymore. 

"At least I've got my health." He smiled. 

Clark bit his lip. "I'm sure you'll figure something out, you're one of the most determined people I know." 

/\ 

It was a beautiful day as Whitney led Lana out into the fields for a picnic. He had come to a decision, as painful as it was, that he needed to join the army because Smallville had to end. He needed to move on with his life and could see no other form of escape. 

"Close your eyes..." As he led Lana to the blanket he set up. 

He was about to tell her the news when an interloper put his world in a spin. 

So many emotions flitted across his face. "Lana, I-" 

"Excuse me, sir!" A funny looking man in designer clothes was determinedly walking over to them, fighting up nature's rough hill with a gleam in his eyes. 

Lana opened eyes, in as much shock as Whitney. 

"Sir, have you ever considered a career in acting?" 

"What kind of joke is this?" 

"No joke, sir you are exactly what we are looking for! Here's my card." 

As the man showed several other big stars he represented, names Whitney was familiar with, he wondered where his mother kept the Champaign. They would all need a drink to be celebrating tonight. 

/\ 

Ten years later. 

/\ 

Whitney Fordman was a star that demanded respect in the business, and he was the defining roll in the movie everybody was talking about. 

Lana had ended the relationship with him that fall on a video tape recorder, the strangest breakup he had ever had. He had been disheartened until the next project started and Chloe had interviewed him about it. Again, it so happened that a single day had changed his life completely, and for the better. They were married three years later after his dramatic work on television bounced him up, up and away onto the big screen. 

Chloe had a Pulitzer for her work on foreign relations, determined not to let him be a glory hound. Their second child Pete was on his way. 

And Whitney was never happier. 

Now the role that defined America had fallen into his lap and he was desperately worried he would never be able to do it justice. Stupid puns. The dyed hair wasn't so bad and he did well in the contacts. He paced the dressing room rehearsing his lines and trying to look formidable in tights, but feeling ridiculously out of place in this get-up. The Superman movie depended on its hero, but his nerves still jangled with worry. 

How the hell did Clark manage not to get a wedgie? 

"Somebody looks like they could use some saving right about now." A laugh from his friend as the man stepped in, pushing up the glasses on his face. 

"Clark, I could really use some tips on getting your alter ego down pact." 

"Don't use your heat vision to melt people who are jerks, lead is your best friend, and watch out for the reporter lady who wants to nab all your best stories and contacts." 

"Damn, I'd loved to have turned the director of Smallville into a pile of goo. Everything was Lana this and Lana that. You'd think the show was about her Pinkness and not the epic of a legendary hero." 

"She wasn't that bad! She had a lot of personal problems, that's all." 

"Then why are you married to The Sexy?" 

"You just answered your own question. They aren't going to make Lex evil again, are they? It really hurts his feelings." 

"..." 

"Well, it does. After all that work distancing himself from his father, and people want to capitalize on their power struggles with a "turn to the dark side." Lionel's an asshole but a lot of fathers are morons, and their kids don't turn into evil geniuses." 

"Think of it as free publicity for his election." 

"Maybe you should be playing Lex instead." 

"Come on Clark, what is my motivation to play the greatest man since that one guy who played Moses?" 

"I don't get what all the hype is, I'm just a normal guy like anyone else." 

"With Superpowers?" Whitney collapsed into his chair. 

"Whitney, do you remember the night you climbed the windmill?" 

"Yeah." They had never spoken of it since. 

"I would never have found you in time, I didn't have my super-hearing yet." 

So he really would have died. He had wondered sometimes if he had had that safety net after he had found out how special Clark was. 

"Only when you yelled that you wouldn't give up as you pulled up from the platform did I see you." 

The rush of that night came back with the memory. 

"I had to save myself that night...you would have only been in the way." 

"That's the scary part, with all I can do, sometimes it still isn't enough." Clark whispered. 

"But you do all you can to help people." 

"That's pretty much it. Just a big gay alien that does good when he can." 

Laughter, and with that admission Whitney knew he could do the part, it would be much like playing himself, or Clark, or any person that didn't want to give up on trying. 

"After all this time they still can't handle that aspect of my life!" 

"Tell you what, I'll do some serious eyefucks with your arch nemesis to mess with their homophobe minds. The subtext will nearly be text, my alien friend." 

"Are you sure you shouldn't have played Lex?" 

"Trust me, this Rosenbaum guy is a method actor, he'll love it..." 

/\ 

/\ 

/\ 

From the diary of Chloe Sullivan: 

/\ 

Dear diary, 

My name is chloe and I'm ten years old. I like to read a lot of stories and do invesgators of crimnals. Today I went with my mommy to the park and i got to play on the swing set and jumble gim and it was a lot of fun. Mommy pushed me till she got tired and sat to rest. Mommy gets tired a lot, I wonder why she seemed sad to day? anyways I still solved a case like a real live 'vestagotor inspetor gadget. i want to be just like penny an solve mystiers too. One little girl Ginny lost her doll and was crying, but I told her not to be afraid cause I could get it back! i rounded up the usual pros'pects and gave them the throw up and round, but I bet it was that dummy billy henderson from my school i hate him so much! he always pulls my piggy tails and so I cut um off so he could not pull them no more and boy mommy was mad when i did! But he wasn't there so it was a lot harder to find the pulprit in the crime, so I looked round harder till I saw Lena Lauper what a dumb name and she had the doll!! she said she'd rescued the doll from ?abadonmint? (ask mommy) and the doll was happy with her. I said the doll could not be happy it was a doll and even ants knew dolls are just plastic. She's not the brightest litening bug. I grabbed it to give it back to Ginny and that dumb lena started cryng the 'a' word again. But case is solved! and mommy got me ice cream after I asked her what the 'a' word meant. She seemed very sad so I'll look up words on my own. 
    
    
                                                                                                           night,
                                                                                                                Chloe
    

Dear diary, 

I was watching cartoons cause i'm sick and got chicken pocks and I'm all itchy. Daddy made me an omeltte cause I'm hungry and he said I cant eat cake every day but I won't eat brustles sprots no way they are yucky yukky ewww! mommy screamed at daddy last night though i don't know why but i don't like it and she's not here today. Now the soaps are on and i'll watch for mommy but everyone's mad at each other and mommy likes the secrets and the lies though i wouldn't like it if nobody told me the truth or tried to murder me to death. at least I got to stay in bed all day and it was nice. no crimes on the news so maybe the crimenals get sick days too. i'm tired now so that's all 
    
    
                                                                                                              Night,
                                                                                                                  Chloe
    

Dear diary, 

It's been a whole month and mommy isnt' back yet. i miss her and where is she maybe she got kidnapped? Daddy is real quiet but I think he misses her too. I wish I could solve this case but daddy said there was no crime. 

I know its wrong but i wish there was. 
    
    
                                                                                                           night,
                                                                                                              Chloe
    

/\ 

Dear diary, 

Its been a long time since mommy went and I'm real worried, so I wrote to Santa at the north pole if he could bring her back. That jerk billy says he's not real so I threw lena's new dumb doll at him but she cried the 'a' word and I got in trouble. no recess for me. that big dumbo ruins everything. i'll prove him wrong! But I still wrote santa and even got on extra stamps cause taking it to the pole is further then even disneyland ooh I want to go there but I want my mommy more so maybe next year. I hope billy only gets coal lumps for Christmas, big doofus. 
    
    
                                                                                                               night,
                                                                                                                  Chloe     
    

/\ 

Dear diary, 

Wow! I knew that Billy was wrong and there is a Santa, cause my Mommy's back!!!! She came on Christmas day with presents saying she was sory and she cried and daddy cried and I cried cause its hard being so happy and sad at the same time. I missed her so much I hugged her an didn't want to let go ever. She promised she'd never go away again to Nowhere land and not come back. Daddy smiled so much I thought he'd be stuck but that would be okay cause we're all happy and we never thought we would be again. She got daddy a new bow tie with rainbowed colors and got me a real super de'lux reporter kit, and a little spy camera. Daddy says we're gonna move to Smallsville soon. I hope it won't be boring till I'm snoring. I really don't want to go but with mommy going too there at least it won't be so bad or lonely. Shh, don't tell I caught them kissing and took lots of pictures till mommy laughed and we took one all together. Daddy said I had a future as a blackmailing (look up) person till mommy said hush. Daddy sure is funny sometimes. 

Happy jolly days!  
Chloe 


End file.
